Audience Councils

Your voice

A key part of our role is to understand what audiences in England want from the BBC and identify any particular issues or concerns. To do this we discuss the feedback and discussions from the meetings we have with our panel members in the spring, summer and autumn across England. From time to time we also meet in smaller working groups by conference call and by email - as well as using other sources of audience data and insight.

The advice we have submitted to the Trust as a result of our discussions on various BBC services and strategies can be seen below. The BBC Trust carries out regular in-depth reviews of each of the BBC's services, as part of its Charter responsibilities. The Trust has looked at every BBC service over the last five years and has now begun a second round of reviews. The first of these covered BBC Online and Red Button.

The Trust’s second round of service reviews 2012 - 2017

BBC Music Radio – Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 6 Music and Asian Network

The BBC Trust’s review of the BBC’s six music radio stations, announced in February 2014, was the first to look at all six stations together. The review also involved a public consultation.

In our submission to the BBC Trust’s review of BBC Music radio we said that the BBC’s music radio services - Radio1, Radio1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 6 Music and Asian Network - together offer a diverse range of high quality, creative, varied and distinctive content that is widely appreciated and valued by audiences. We consider that the six music radio stations are performing well against many aspects of their service licences, delivering an impressive breadth of entertaining, engaging and informative programming and providing some outstanding new, UK and live music which appeals to a variety of different audience interests.

You can read the submission from the Audience Council England and the Trust’s findings via the links here:

BBC Television Services – BBC One, Two, Three and Four

The BBC Trust’s review of BBC Television, announced in February 2013, is the Trust’s second review of BBC Television, but the first to look at all four channels together. The review also involved a public consultation.

In our submission to the BBC Trust’s review of BBC television we said that the BBC’s main television services are performing well against some aspects of their service licence. Many of the programmes are high quality and enjoyed by audiences, and there is a good range of different types of programmes, some of which gain large numbers of viewers, others with more niche appeal.

We hoped that this service review can help to clarify the roles and remits of each of the channels, in order for the BBC to continue to provide such high-quality programmes for all audiences.

You can read the submission from the Audience Council England and the Trust’s findings via the links here:

BBC Network News and Current Affairs

In February 2013 the BBC Trust announced a review of BBC network news and current affairs, which also involved a public consultation, which examined how well news and current affairs performed against commitments set by the Trust in the BBC's service licences, and against the BBC's broader public service role.

In our submission we found that for many people the BBC continues to be a prime source of reliable and accurate news. We considered how increased choice has impacted on the development of editorial content and we said that the BBC news offer was successful because of the range, breadth and balance of news services and coverage.

You can read the submission from the Audience Council England and the Trust’s findings via the links here:

Children's Services

In our submission to the BBC Trust’s review of Children’s Services we said that CBeebies and CBBC delivered high quality programmes, largely made in the UK, for a range of children. The services were trusted by parents and enjoyed by children.

We also said that:

The range of programmes differentiated the BBC’s children’s channels from others, though believed there could be more educational content on CBBC.

The channels were largely successful in representing a diverse UK but more could be done to reflect different geographic areas or socio-economic groups.

It was very important the BBC continues to invest in services for children.

You can read the submission from the Audience Council England and the Trust’s findings via the links here:

The Trust’s first round of service reviews 2007 - 2012

Delivering Quality First

Delivering Quality First set out the BBC's plan for delivering cost savings and changes to services while preserving the highest quality programmes and content to audiences until the end of the Charter in 2017. The consultation ran during 2011.